They also launched a new compound, named ‘super-hard’, which will take the orange stripe from the hard compound tyre.

Currently, in each race, Pirelli offers teams the option between three different compounds, and they hope that the new compounds with adjusted durability will offer teams more options during a race weekend.

The new compounds will officially be announced in Abu Dhabi this weekend, at the final race of the 2017 season.

“Compared to this year, when the tyres grew by 25% to fit a brand-new generation of cars, the changes for next year are less far-reaching,” Mario Isola, Pirelli’s head of car racing spoke.

“However, we’re pleased to present some important innovations with softer and faster compounds across the range: including the new hypersoft.

“We realised that, under the unique circumstances of this year, some of our 2017 compounds were perhaps conservative: the tires we have created for 2018 addresses this, in line with the objective of having around two pit stops at most races.

“However, the fundamental design concept of the tyres hasn’t changed next year, preserving the attributes that all drivers have appreciated this year and allowing them to push hard from the start to the finish of each stint.

“The new range consists of faster tyres that should lead to even harder and more spectacular racing in 2018.”

As well as the seven tyres for dry weather being announced for next year, the intermediate and wet compounds still remain, making a total of nine tyre compounds available to teams next year.